Another textbook that survives with George’s signature (twice, in fact) is the publication of a series of sermons based on Luke 16:29-31, entitled The Sufficiency Of A Standing Revelation. The second sermon, dated February 5, 1700, begins with these words, showing the high view it had of the Scriptures:
The first thing which I propounded to do in discoursing on these Words, was, the endeavour to show, that the present Standing Revelation of God’s will, contained in the Books of the Old and New Testament is abundantly sufficient to persuade men to Repentance, if they are not unreasonably blind and obstinate. They have Moses and the Prophets, (they have also Christ and his Apostles,) let them hear them.
And if that Standing Revelation which God hath made to us of his will in the Holy Scriptures can upon any Account be thought insufficient to effect this Design, it must be, I think, either 1. Because no standing revelation can be sufficient for this Purpose; Or, 2. Because there are some particular defects in that Revelation which we have in the Holy Scriptures which render it not so sufficient for this Purpose, as ’tis possible a Standing Revelation might be.
I have therefore, in a former Discourse upon these words endeavoured to show in general that a Standing Revelation of God’s will may be so well contrived, as so well attested as to be sufficient of the Purpose.27
This book bears the signatures of other students, who apparently with young George had been exposed to these sermons. Its contents were the Robert Boyle Lectures established to refute the infidelity of deistic thought that had begun to surface in England in the late sixteen hundreds. The force of the sermons that Washington read under his tutor’s guidance was designed to refute the Deist claim that there was no divine revelation and so to encourage the historic Protestant view of the sufficiency of Scripture for Christian faith and practice. Robert Boyle, who endowed these lectures, was an Oxford professor, the father of modern chemistry, and a devout Christian.
Another book in his library, dating from this era that had likely been used as a school book, was The Travels of Cyrus. This book states that its purpose was, in part, to refute both atheism and Deism.28 A fictional literary text, The Travels of Pergrine Pickle,29 reveals a sincere belief in divine Providence. Washington even had a copy of Theodore Beza’s Latin translation of the New Testament.30 Beza was a contemporary and compatriot of the Protestant reformer John Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland. Beza is one the four reformers honored on the Reformation Wall in Geneva in the form of gigantic stone statues. He is in the company of Calvin, Knox, and Farel. Washington also had a Latin Concordance of all the words in Homer’s Iliad dating from this era.31
One of the science texts in his library was a work by John Ray (1627-1704/5), an English naturalist, entitled The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation. The work addressed all of creation, including the human form, and detailed how each revealed the work of the Creator. Washington saw the study of the works of the “great Creator” as “inexpressibly delightful.”32
But what is truly amazing, in regard to Washington’s early education, is that we know a great deal of the specific assignments he had, because his homework pages still exist.33 These immediately illustrate his remarkable skill in penmanship and mathematics. But they also reveal the beliefs being transmitted in his childhood education. Two manuscripts exist that are copies of poems, showing the values of his tutor. One emphasizes moral living, the importance of family, and simplicity for true happiness in life.34 It appeared in the February 1734 issue of Gentleman’s Magazine and even earlier in Universal Spectator.35
Childhood poem entitled “True Happiness” copied by Washington
A CHRISTMAS POEM
Another youthful school paper of Washington’s is his copy of a Christmas poem.36 It shows that he was exposed to historic Christian teachings concerning Christ’s death and resurrection as well as the human and divine nature of Christ. Most scholars only mention this copied poem, or only cite the first two lines.37 The whole text, however, is valuable, because it illustrates the Christian orthodoxy in which Washington had been trained. Young Washington probably copied this from the February 1743 issue of Gentleman’s Magazine (London), cited above.
ON CHRISTMAS DAY
Assist me Muse divine to sing the morn,
On which the Saviour of mankind was born;
But oh! what numbers to the theme can rise?
Unless kind angels aid me from the skies?
Methinks I see the tunefull Host descend,
Hark, by their hymns directed on the road,
The gladsome Shepherds find the nascent God!
And view the infant conscious of his birth,
Smiling bespeak salvation to the earth!
For when the important Aera first drew near
In which the great Messiah should appear
And to accomplish His redeeming love
Resign a while his glorious throne above.
Beneath our form every woe sustain
And by triumphant suffering fix His reign
Should for lost man in tortures yield his breath,
Dying to save us from eternal death!
Oh mystick Union! Salutary grace!
Incarnate God our nature should embrace!
That Deity should stoop to our disguise!
That man recovered should regain the skies!
Dejected Adam! From thy Grave ascend
And view the Serpent’s Deadly Malice end,
Adorring bless th’ Almighty’s boundless grace
That gave his son a ransome for thy race!
Oh never let my soul this Day forget,
But pay in grateful praise her annual debt
